Sports clothes drying rack

ABSTRACT

A base for supporting an upstanding post having a first base member and at least one second base member. The first base member includes a first socket portion and a first support portion. Each second base member includes a second socket portion and a second support portion. The first and second base members are connected to each other and the first and second socket portions together define a post socket. The post socket has a plurality of walls defining a perimeter and extending from a bottom support for surrounding an end of the upstanding post. The first and second support portions each include at least one bearing point remote from a respective one of the socket portions to engage a support surface. A sports equipment rack and a kit for an assembly of a sports equipment rack is also disclosed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a base member for anupstanding post, and more particularly to a base and rack for supportingvarious types of sport equipment such as a player's individualprotection gear and clothing for a particular sport.

2. Background Art

Some sports and more particularly contact sports such as hockey andfootball utilize a great deal of equipment which have to be stored. Theequipment cannot be stored immediately after use as generally it must beaired and dried. This is also the case even in some non-contact sportssuch as skiing and the like.

Since it is desirable that such racks be composed of elements that canbe easily taken apart for storage and transport purposes, some prior artracks have a central post and a plurality of separate base members, forexample having a triangular shape, which are deformed from a tensionedstate to be removably inserted into receiving holes of the central postand retained therein by the tensioned state of the base member. To beassembled to the post, such base members require the presence of thespecific receiving holes, and as such cannot be easily interchangeablyused with various post members. Moreover, over time the connectionbetween the base members and the post can become loose, for examplethrough accidental widening of the receiving holes or loss of tension ofthe base member.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

It is therefore an aim of the present invention to provide an improvedbase for a rack supporting various pieces of equipment and/or clothingfor the drying thereof.

It is another aim of the present invention to provide an improved rackwhich is formed of relatively few elements.

It is a further aim of the present invention to provide an improved rackwhich is easily assembled and disassembled.

Therefore, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided abase for supporting an upstanding post, the base comprising a first basemember including a first socket portion and a first support portion, andat least one second base member each including a second socket portionand a second support portion, the first and second base members beingconnected to each other and the first and second socket portionstogether defining a post socket having a plurality of walls defining aperimeter and extending from a bottom support for surrounding an end ofthe upstanding post, the first and second support portions eachincluding at least one bearing point remote from a respective one of thesocket portions to engage a support surface.

Also in accordance with the present invention, there is provided asports equipment rack comprising an elongated central post havingopposed bottom and top ends, a plurality of hanger members extendingfrom the central post and adapted to receive at least one articlethereon, and at least two base members each including a socket portionand a support portion, the base members being detachably connected toeach other with the socket portions together forming a post sockethaving a plurality of walls extending from a bottom support, theelongated post being retained by the post socket to extend substantiallyupwardly with the bottom end resting against the bottom support andretained by the plurality of walls, the support portion of each of theconnected base members providing at least one bearing point remote fromthe socket to support the rack on a support surface.

Further in accordance with the present invention, there is provided akit for an assembly of a sports equipment rack comprising a first basemember including a first socket portion and a first support portion, atleast one second base member each including a second socket portion anda second support portion, the first and second base members beingconnectable to each other and the first and second socket portions beingcomplementary to together define a post socket having a plurality ofwalls extending from a bottom support when the first and second basemembers are interconnected, the first and second support portions eachincluding at least one bearing point remote from a respective one of thesocket portions to engage a support surface, an elongated central posthaving opposed bottom and top ends, the bottom end being receivable intothe post socket to rest against the bottom support and be supported bythe plurality of walls such that the central post extends substantiallyperpendicularly to the support surface, and a plurality of hangermembers attachable to the central post and adapted to receive at leastone article thereon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, showing by wayof illustration a particular embodiment of the present invention and inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rack according to a particularembodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A is a side view of a first base member forming part of a base ofthe rack of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2B is a side view of a second base member forming another part ofthe base of the rack of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective, partial view of the two base members of FIGS.2A, 2B in a partly assembled state;

FIG. 4 is a top, partial view of two base members of FIGS. 2A, 2B in anassembled state;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a top member of the rack of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 6 is a side view of a connecting member of the rack of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PARTICULAR EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to FIG. 1, a rack according to a particular embodiment ofthe present invention is generally shown at 10. The rack 10 comprises abase 12 adapted to rest on a support surface, the base 12 including apost socket 14 retaining a central post 16 in a substantially verticalmanner, the central post 16 in turn supporting a plurality of hangermembers 18 extending outwardly therefrom and a headgear support 20extending substantially upwardly therefrom.

In the embodiment shown, the base 12 is formed of two interconnectedbase members 22 a,b. Referring to FIGS. 2A-2B, the first and second basemembers 22 a,b each have a planar body 24 a,b having a bottom edge 26a,b and two substantially symmetrical angled top edges 28 a,b defining asubstantially triangular shape. A plurality of openings 30 a,b, whichare shown here as being circular but can also be any other appropriateshape, are optionally defined in each body 24 a,b to minimize a weightthereof.

Each base member 22 a,b includes a socket portion 32 a,b, whichcomprises a pair of opposed parallel walls 34 a,b with a substantiallyrectangular large slit 36 a,b in the body 24 a,b defined therebetween.The large slit 36 a,b extends downwardly from the top edges 28 a,b alonga central vertical axis 38 a,b of the body 24 a,b, where a top apex ofthe triangular body 24 a,b would be defined, and is bordered on its twovertical edges by the two spaced apart parallel walls 34 a,b whichextend substantially perpendicularly to the body 24 a,b. Referring toFIG. 3, the two vertical ends of each of the walls are in the form ofhook members 40 a,b. The hook members 40 a,b of the first and secondbase members 22 a,b are engageable to each other, as will be furtherexplained below.

Referring back to FIGS. 2A-2B, each base member 22 a,b also includes asupport portion 42 a,b, which comprises a foot 44 a,b extendingdownwardly from the bottom edge 26 a,b at each of the bottom apex of thetriangular body 24 a,b, each foot 44 a,b defining a bearing point forsupporting the base onto a support surface.

The first base member 22 a includes a first thin slit 46 extendingdownwardly in the body 24 a along the central axis 38 a from a bottom ofthe large slit 36 a. The second base member 22 b includes a second thinslit 48 extending upwardly in the body 24 b along the central axis 38 bfrom the bottom edge 26 b. The first and second base members 22 a,b areassembled substantially perpendicularly to each other, with a topportion 50 of the second base member 22 b defined between the secondthin slit 48 and respective large slit 36 b being received within thefirst thin slit 46, and a bottom portion 52 of the first base member 22a defined between the first thin slit 46 and respective bottom edge 26 abeing received within the second thin slit 48. As shown in FIG. 3, whenthe two base members 22 a,b are assembled, the hook members 40 a of thefirst base member 22 a engage the hook members 40 b of the second basemember 22 b to form the post socket 14 having a square, closedperimeter. As shown in FIG. 4, the crossing bodies 24 a,b of the firstand second base members 22 a,b form a bottom support 54 of the postsocket 14.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the central post 16 is formed of bottom andtop post members 56, 58 having a substantially square, hollowcross-section. The post members 56, 58 have a plurality of pairs ofaligned openings 60 defined in opposed walls thereof, each pair ofaligned openings 60 receiving one of the hanger members 18 therethrough.A bottom end 62 of the bottom post member 56 is received within the postsocket 14 formed by the base 12, resting against the bottom support 54and being retained by the walls 34 a,b. A hollow top end 64 of thebottom post member 56 is interconnected to a hollow bottom end 66 of thetop post member 58 by a connecting member 68, which is shown in FIG. 6.

The connecting member 68 includes a body 70 which defines opposed ends72 and a central portion 74. A flange 76 extends around the centralportion 74 (also shown in FIG. 1). The opposed ends 72 are sized such asto be freely inserted, i.e. without significant friction, into arespective one of the top hollow end 64 of the bottom post member 56 andthe bottom hollow end 66 of the top post member 58. The ends 72 areoptionally tapered.

The central portion 74 is larger than the opposed ends 72, i.e. at leastone transversal dimension (one example being shown as W1>W2) of the body70 increases from each of the opposed ends 72 to the central portion 74.In the embodiment shown, a series of longitudinal ridges 78 extend alonga length of the body 70, the longitudinal ridges 78 being larger towardthe central portion 74 such as to produce the size increase between theopposed ends 72 and the central portion 74. The central portion 74 issized such as to be frictionally retained within the hollow ends 64, 66of the post members 56, 58 when forced therein.

Thus, each end 72 of the connecting member 68 is placed into arespective one of the hollow ends 64, 66 of the two post members 56, 58,and the post members 56, 58 are brought together until each end 64, 66abuts the flange 76. Because of the dimensional increase from the ends72 of the connecting member 68 to the central portion 74, the minimalforce required at the beginning of the insertion of the connectingmember 68 progressively increases as the post members 56, 58 are broughtcloser together, which facilitates the use of the connecting member 68.The ridges 78, when compared to fins or other similar retaining means ofthe prior art, are not easily breakable which provides the connectingmember 68 with an increased useful life.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the hanger members 18 are tubular membershaving a circular cross-section which are inserted into the alignedopenings 60 of the central post 16. The hanger members 18 are adapted tosupport various types of sport equipment such as clothes, protectivegear, footwear, etc. Clips 80 are provided at the end of some or all ofthe hanger members 18 to facilitate the retention of articles thatotherwise could slide off the members. Alternate methods of attachingthe hanger members 18 to the central post 16 are also considered, aswell as hanger members 18 extending at various angles with respect tothe central post 16.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 5, the headgear support 20 comprises a topmember 82 which has a tubular body 86 insertable into a hollow top end84 of the top post member 58. A cylindrical opening or recess 88 isdefined in the body 86 from a top surface 90 of the top member 82. Theheadgear support 20 also comprises a pin 92 having a bottom end 94received within the recess 88 and frictionally retained therein toextend in a substantially vertical manner. The pin 92 is adapted tosupport various types of headgear such as a hat or a helmet and as suchfacilitate the support of an entire set of sport equipment by the rack10.

In the embodiment shown, the connections between the base members 22a,b, post members 56, 58, top member 82, pin 92, connecting member 68and hanger members 18 are non-permanent. The rack 10 can thus easily beput together and taken apart, without tools, for ease of transport andstorage. As such, the rack 10 can advantageously be provided in a kitcontaining all or some of the elements, for example the base members 22a,b, a unitary central post 16 and a plurality of hanger members 18.

The base 12 formed of the connectable base members 22 a,b is simple tomanufacture and simple to assemble. No additional component is requiredto connect the central post 16 to the base 12, as the base members 22a,b include socket portions 32 a,b which, when the base members 22 a,bare assembled, together form the post socket 14. It is also consideredto use the base 12 for other types of racks and upstanding posts thatneed to be supported on a support surface.

The rack 10 in its disassembled state requires limited storage spacewhile still having substantially few separate elements to assemble,which reduces the assembly time and complexity as well as the risk oflosing one of the elements.

In the embodiment shown, the post socket 14 has a square, closedperimeter. Alternately, the post socket 14 formed by the cooperatingsocket portions 32 a,b can have any of a multitude of shapes, or wallsthat are not directly connected to one another, as long as the postsocket 14 can retain the particular central post 16 it is beingassembled with. Also, more than two base members 22 a,b can bedetachably connectable to each other. One example of an alternateembodiment would be three base members having a first end defining thesocket portion and an opposed second end defining the support portion,the members being connectable at substantially 120 degrees from eachother along the first end, and the cooperating socket portions forming apost socket having a triangular perimeter to receive a triangularcentral post therein.

The embodiments of the invention described above are intended to beexemplary. Those skilled in the art will therefore appreciate that theforegoing description is illustrative only, and that variousalternatives and modifications can be devised without departing from thespirit of the present invention. Accordingly, the present invention isintended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and varianceswhich fall within the scope of the appended claims.

1. A base for supporting an upstanding post, the base comprising: afirst base member including a first socket portion and a first supportportion; and at least one second base member each including a secondsocket portion and a second support portion, the first and second basemembers being connected to each other and the first and second socketportions together defining a post socket having a plurality of wallsdefining a perimeter and extending from a bottom support for surroundingan end of the upstanding post, the first and second support portionseach including at least one bearing point remote from a respective oneof the socket portions to engage a support surface.
 2. The base asdefined in claim 1, wherein the at least one second base member includesa single second base member, the first and second base members beingdetachably connected to each other in a substantially perpendicularmanner, the support portion of the first base member defining two spacedapart first bearing points with the first socket portion being locatedtherebetween, and the second base member defining two spaced apartsecond bearing points with the second socket portion being locatedtherebetween.
 3. The base as defined in claim 2, wherein the first basemember includes a first slit defined from a top edge thereof between thetwo first bearing points, and the second base member includes a secondslit defined from a bottom edge thereof between the two second bearingpoints, the first and second base members being connected with a bottomsection of the first base member defined under the first slit receivedwithin the second slit and a top section of the second base memberdefined over the second slit received into the first slit.
 4. The rackas defined in claim 1, wherein the plurality of walls are detachablyinterconnected to each other to form the perimeter.
 5. A sportsequipment rack comprising: an elongated central post having opposedbottom and top ends; a plurality of hanger members extending from thecentral post and adapted to receive at least one article thereon; and atleast two base members each including a socket portion and a supportportion, the base members being detachably connected to each other withthe socket portions together forming a post socket having a plurality ofwalls extending from a bottom support, the elongated post being retainedby the post socket to extend substantially upwardly with the bottom endresting against the bottom support and retained by the plurality ofwalls, the support portion of each of the connected base membersproviding at least one bearing point remote from the socket to supportthe rack on a support surface.
 6. The rack as defined in claim 5,wherein the at least two base members include first and second basemembers detachably connected to each other in a substantiallyperpendicular manner, the support portions of the first and second basemembers each defining two spaced apart bearing points with the socketportion being located therebetween.
 7. The rack as defined in claim 6,wherein the first base member includes a first slit defined from a topedge thereof, and the second base member includes a second slit definedfrom a bottom edge thereof, the first and second base members beingconnected with a bottom section of the first base member defined underthe first slit received within the second slit and a top section of thesecond base member defined over the second slit received into the firstslit.
 8. The rack as defined in claim 6, wherein the bottom end of thecentral post has a square cross-section and the plurality of walls ofthe socket include two pairs of substantially parallel spaced apartwalls, each pair being integral with a respective one of the first andsecond base members, the two pairs of walls together forming asubstantially square perimeter snuggly surrounding the bottom end of thecentral post.
 9. The rack as defined in claim 5, wherein the pluralityof walls of the post socket include adjacent walls forming a closedperimeter and frictionally retaining the bottom end of the central post.10. The rack as defined in claim 9, wherein the adjacent walls aredetachably interconnected to each other.
 11. The rack as defined inclaim 5, wherein the central post is formed of two segments each havinga hollow end, the hollow ends being interconnected by a connectingmember having a body defining opposed ends and a central portion, eachof the opposed ends being freely insertable into the hollow end of arespective one of the segments, and the central portion beingsimultaneously frictionally retained into the hollow end of the twosegments.
 12. The rack as defined in claim 11, wherein at least onetransversal dimension of the body of the connecting member increasesalong a longitudinal direction thereof from each of the opposed ends tothe central portion.
 13. The rack as defined in claim 5, furthercomprising: a top member having a bottom end frictionally retained intoa hollow top end of the central post, the top member having a topsurface with a recess defined therein; and an elongated pin retainedinto the recess and extending substantially parallel to the centralpost, the elongated pin being adapted to retain a piece of equipmentover the central post.
 14. A kit for an assembly of a sports equipmentrack comprising: a first base member including a first socket portionand a first support portion; at least one second base member eachincluding a second socket portion and a second support portion, thefirst and second base members being connectable to each other and thefirst and second socket portions being complementary to together definea post socket having a plurality of walls extending from a bottomsupport when the first and second base members are interconnected, thefirst and second support portions each including at least one bearingpoint remote from a respective one of the socket portions to engage asupport surface; an elongated central post having opposed bottom and topends, the bottom end being receivable into the post socket to restagainst the bottom support and be supported by the plurality of wallssuch that the central post extends substantially perpendicularly to thesupport surface; and a plurality of hanger members attachable to thecentral post and adapted to receive at least one article thereon. 15.The kit as defined in claim 14, wherein the at least one second basemember includes a single second base member, the first and second basemembers being detachably connectable to each other in a substantiallyperpendicular manner, the first support portions defining two spacedapart first bearing points with the first socket portion being locatedtherebetween and the second support portions defining two spaced apartsecond bearing points with the second socket portion being locatedtherebetween.
 16. The kit as defined in claim 15, wherein the first basemember includes a first slit defined from a top edge thereof between thetwo first bearing points, and the second base member includes a secondslit defined from a bottom edge thereof between the two second bearingpoints, a bottom section of the first base member defined under thefirst slit being receivable within the second slit, and a top section ofthe second base member defined over the second slit being receivableinto the first slit.
 17. The kit as defined in claim 15, wherein thefirst and second support portions each include a pair of opposed walls,the pairs of opposed walls being engageable to each other to form theplurality of walls of the post socket, the plurality of walls defining aclosed perimeter, and the bottom end of the central post is snugglyreceivable within the closed perimeter.
 18. The kit as defined in claim14, wherein the first and second support portions each include at leastone wall, the at least one wall of the support portions beinginterconnectable to form the plurality of walls of the post socket, theplurality of walls defining a substantially square perimeter.
 19. Thekit as defined in claim 14, wherein the central post is a first centralpost with the top end thereof being hollow, and the kit furthercomprises: a second central post having a hollow bottom end; a pluralityof hanger members attachable to the second central post and adapted toreceive at least one article thereon; and a connecting member having abody defining first and second opposed ends and a central portion, thefirst end being insertable into the hollow top end of the first centralpost, the second end being insertable into the hollow bottom end of thesecond central post, and the central portion being simultaneouslyfrictionally retainable into the hollow top of the first central postand the hollow bottom end of the second central post to interconnect thefirst and second central posts.
 20. The kit as defined in claim 14,wherein the top end of the central post is hollow, the kit furthercomprising: a top member having a bottom end frictionally retainableinto the hollow top end of the central post, the top member having a topend with a recess defined therein; and an elongated pin snugglyinsertable into the recess such as to extend substantially parallel tothe central post when the top member in retained in the top end, theelongated pin being adapted to retain a piece of equipment over thecentral post.